“Glee” Season So Far: Gleeks Cheer and Grieve Together by Christy Blevins

The premiere of Glee season five aired this month on FOX. The premiere attempted to start off with a joyous Beatles themed episode, yet the shadow of late co-star Cory Monteith loomed, leaving a subtle sad reminder of his untimely death.Â Spoilers are mentioned below.

The hour premiere started with Lea Michele’s character, Rachel Berry, reading at her callback audition for “Funny Girl.” Shortly after her reading she over hears the director, played by guest star Peter Facinelli, suggest she may be too new and fresh for the part. After this rejection, Rachel dejectedly walks through the park and performs The Beatles “Yesterday,” the first number of the season.

Fans watching the premiere were able to see just how much a professional Michele is. Despite the weight of her boyfriend, and co-star’s death, her performance was inspirational and a great start to the season.Â Understandably, Michele will not be in the October 10th tribute episode until one of the final scenes. Until this episode it appears there will be no mention of Monteith’s, or character Finn Hudson’s, death.

The rest of the episode continued in regular Glee fashion; however there is a new romance on the rise. The Beatles themed episode was full of romantic scenes, one of which introduced the new coupling of Artie, Kevin McHale, and the popular Cheerio, Kitty. They break out the second song of the episode with a rendition of “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.”Â Glee‘s premiere was not just about the Beatle tribute; it also sets up this season’s prom episode and coupling the characters together.

At them mention of coupling, fans of the series should jump for joy.Â Perhaps the biggest moment of this episode was the reuniting of Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel, and Darren Chris’, Blaine.Â Kurt and Blaine, internet famous with the couple name Klaine, have been broken up since early last season and have had the fans spinning in and out of heartache.Â Their relationship was put back on track with a heartfelt picnic conversation between Kurt and Blaine, which led into a duet of “Got to Get You into My Life.”Â Â The celebratory song pushed the episode into an overall joyous start to the new season.

Before the final defining moment of episode, and an undoubtedly big step for Glee, Rachel had one last number. Back in New York, Santana get Rachel a job as a waitress, comparing it to being a “real working actress.” Rachel gets her last spunky number in when the “Funny Girl” director and star coincidently show up for lunch, and Rachel shows off her pipes. She showcases her talent with an impromptu version of “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Following the excitement of Rachel’s feistiness, viewers are whisked back to Ohio to a final Kurt and Blaine scene. Everyone knows what’s coming but not the final answer. Cue defining moment for Glee. Blaine walks Kurt through several dance numbers from other glee clubs groups who have been their rivals in the past. While singing a version of “All You Need Is Love,” Kurt is led through vocal adrenaline, and other rival groups, and down the staircase where he and Blaine first met.Â Ending on a happy note, Blaine looks at Kurt and finally proposes. Two seasons and all the romance has built up to this moment in Glee, and fans get their awaited fairytale when Kurt tearfully accepts Blaine’s proposal.

The second episode was a continuation on the Beetles theme and continued in true Glee fashion and unfortunately had no major plot progression. The third episode of the season before the winter break was the long awaited, heart-breaking, Cory Monteith, Finn Hudson, tribute episode.

All fans have been thinking of this season is “will the cause of death for Finn be honorable to Cory’s memory?”Â Glee honored Cory/Finn in a way since Finn’s characters cause of death was not revealed and instead focused on letting viewers know ” that [cause of death] doesn’t matter” only “how he lived it,” said by Colfers character Kurt.

The heart wrenching episode brought back together most original Glee cast characters at McKinley High to mourn their loss together. Rachel Berry was noticeably absent until the very end. Each character went through different types of grieving and singing, loving and tearful songs.

Perhaps the most saddening was Lea Michele’s rendition of “Make you feel my Love.” Without clearly having to act, Michele beautifully sang a song to Cory/Finn with tears streaming down her face. At the end she presented Mr. Shue with a plaque for Finn with his quote “The show must go on. All over the placeâ€¦or something like that.”

And that is the epitome of Glee. Glee will continue its 5th season and is scheduled to finish the series with a sixth season.